[3.9] The Hitman, Elemental Hit Slayer (League Starter to Endgame / 800+ Delve)

I'm level 100 and sitting at 6.7k HP, and I am using Arctic Armor and Flesh and Stone now.

I've changed my character by removing the Headhunter, and using a crafted helmet and a single bow where I can swap slower proj in if I have to (I've been doing Uber Elder with the Greater Proj atm, because of the adds). Not looking to drop huge amounts of currency into big upgrades, but still would like new feedback after all the changes I made. I suppose Aspect of the Spider would be something to consider adding to my setup? I am not sure I would be comfortable with that added mana reservation though.

Been keeping an eye on Mark of the Elder implicits, and all res has stayed a bit out of my price range (~30ish ex).


Also, out of curiosity, what are the important changes that your lethal pride is adding to your build? I have not put much thought into timeless jewel on this build yet, that could be something fun to look into.

Hey, I've been playing through the early acts to see how viable this is for league-start. Toxic rain carries without very much trouble so I'm really excited to try to start Blight with this since it'll be off-meta.

One quick question -- is the blind from Dazzling Strikes (and the nodes up to it) really worth it for leveling? I don't think there's very often where a 15% chance to blind is going to matter much there. I can see it for bossing and when your APS is much higher than the early levels. For leveling I think Farsight (same # of points) is probably superior until the enemies are tough enough where you need the blind/evade.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks!

Apologies, I have not kept up with this thread as well as I should (especially in light of the fact that the changes to Ele Hit Slayer look to be minimal moving into Blight).

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xsnowingx a écrit :

Spoiler

I'm level 100 and sitting at 6.7k HP, and I am using Arctic Armor and Flesh and Stone now.

I've changed my character by removing the Headhunter, and using a crafted helmet and a single bow where I can swap slower proj in if I have to (I've been doing Uber Elder with the Greater Proj atm, because of the adds). Not looking to drop huge amounts of currency into big upgrades, but still would like new feedback after all the changes I made. I suppose Aspect of the Spider would be something to consider adding to my setup? I am not sure I would be comfortable with that added mana reservation though.

Been keeping an eye on Mark of the Elder implicits, and all res has stayed a bit out of my price range (~30ish ex).


Also, out of curiosity, what are the important changes that your lethal pride is adding to your build? I have not put much thought into timeless jewel on this build yet, that could be something fun to look into.

Aspect of the Spider is definitely something that will have a big impact. It will be difficult to run --- you might also consider a better Stygian vise, you can do quite a bit better than your current belt either fossil crafting, or essence crafting a Stygian. Alternatively you could get the increased life recovery off an elder base.

The most important thing from my Lethal Pride is that I have a 10% chance to intimidate on hit, beyond that I get some mixed bonuses but nothing too crazy, chance to deal double damage is something else nice to look out for.

I hope this info is at least somewhat useful, I know it's now too late to matter for the league, but I haven't had as much time to keep up with this thread of late.

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meep_42 a écrit :

Hey, I've been playing through the early acts to see how viable this is for league-start. Toxic rain carries without very much trouble so I'm really excited to try to start Blight with this since it'll be off-meta.

One quick question -- is the blind from Dazzling Strikes (and the nodes up to it) really worth it for leveling? I don't think there's very often where a 15% chance to blind is going to matter much there. I can see it for bossing and when your APS is much higher than the early levels. For leveling I think Farsight (same # of points) is probably superior until the enemies are tough enough where you need the blind/evade.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks!

If you're using Toxic Rain neither one is particularly useful. The main reason that I am in favor of Dazzling Strikes (at all) over Farsight is the fact that a lot of the time against dangerous enemies you want to be at near point-blank range anyway, so any time they do get blinded it's a nice bonus.

Also if you're running "Flesh and Stone" in sand stance, in place of Arctic Armor you can drop Farsight entirely (see my "current" tree for an example of this). Personally I swapped to Flesh and Stone full time, but both it and Arctic Armor are powerful defensive buffs and I wouldn't say one is universally better, I just preferred Flesh and Stone for delving, which was most of what I did in the prior league.


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Once there are official patch notes I'll update this guide for 3.8 but I think the biggest change is that Assassin may now be an equal or better choice than Slayer, and a slightly more minor change that Bane of Legends will no longer be as strong, although it is still going to remain very good.

I ran some numbers on the old passive tree (not much is changing for this build) and it comes out pretty similar for Slayer / Assassin / Deadeye. I didn't change the gear or gems from the endgame PoB and only changed the tree to remove the life box and connect to the other starter areas.

Slayer gets more life and leech effects and cull
Assassin gets Elusive (HUGE) and a little more damage (power charges cap crit easily)
Deadeye gets quite a bit more damage (w/ Lioneye's) but less life and no assassin elusive.

All three should be viable.

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meep_42 a écrit :

I ran some numbers on the old passive tree (not much is changing for this build) and it comes out pretty similar for Slayer / Assassin / Deadeye. I didn't change the gear or gems from the endgame PoB and only changed the tree to remove the life box and connect to the other starter areas.

Slayer gets more life and leech effects and cull
Assassin gets Elusive (HUGE) and a little more damage (power charges cap crit easily)
Deadeye gets quite a bit more damage (w/ Lioneye's) but less life and no assassin elusive.

All three should be viable.

Viable yes, but good? I'd argue deadeye isn't.
I guess yes it will be faster if you just want to clear low tier maps, but Ele hit isn't going to be the absolute fastest for that anyway.

However, I do agree that Assassin vs Slayer will be pretty much neck in neck now. In an hour or two I plan to update my guide to reflect the new changes, I will be making a note of the new viability of assassin and providing an optional tree/setup but I probably will not be going into depth as I do not plan on playing Ele hit again in the upcoming league and don't want to go into detail on some of the new mechanics like Elusive without knowing fully how they work.

I think it will also come down to what you're planning to do with the character.

General mapping?
Assassin and Slayer are probably tied, Deadeye is much squishier but viable.

Bossing?
Assassin probably has a slight edge here.

Delving?
Definitely slayer, with a modified setup running Molten Shell and more armor (which I will be adding as a tree with the update).

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Tenkiei a écrit :

However, I do agree that Assassin vs Slayer will be pretty much neck in neck now.

I haven't been able to find any guides for someone doing shadow elemetal hit, do you happen to know one perhaps i could borrow?

how do u blind enemy?

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oestergreen a écrit :

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Tenkiei a écrit :

However, I do agree that Assassin vs Slayer will be pretty much neck in neck now.

I haven't been able to find any guides for someone doing shadow elemetal hit, do you happen to know one perhaps i could borrow?

I don't know of any guides for that, but I do have an Assassin tree on page one which you could try. Minus tree starting position, and ascendancy-related choices all the other information in my guide applies equally to both Shadow and Duelist.

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One thing that may also be helpful for people playing Elemental Hit this league would be to adapt the tree to take Piercing Shots while also picking up +1 pierce on helm or gloves, and also on quiver piercing 3-4 times against Blight encounters will be very helpful due to the packed nature of enemies.

Small update to the weapons section to clarify how to create +2 or +3 bows with the mod changes from 3.8

lvling right now, will give you feedback later on on how it is. thx for the detailed guide